ESG: Between Risk Analysis and Moral Mandate

This article examines contemporary approaches to ESG standards, raising the question of their role in corporate valuation. The author considers whether environmental and social factors should be treated as hard financial risks or whether they constitute a form of ideological mandate. The text provides a detailed discussion of risk materialization mechanisms, such as regulatory changes, evolving demand, and supply chain instability. The article also addresses the issues of green smuggling and breaches of fiduciary duty by investment funds. The analysis covers the impact of ESG on the nuclear energy sector and the sociological phenomenon of institutional isomorphism. The aim of this publication is to restore ESG to its proper place in fundamental analysis, away from technocratic moralism, thus better protecting capital from value erosion in the face of a changing market environment.